CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSSOn 27 September 1942, a detachment of the First Battalion, 7th Marines under the command of Major Otho Rogers made an amphibious landing at Point Cruz, behind Japanese defensive positions along Guadalcanal’s Matanikau River. Surrounded by fast moving enemy troops, they established a defensive perimeter around the summit of Hill 84 and suffered heavy casualties before fighting their way back to the beach. The survivors were rescued by landing craft; the battle was derisively nicknamed “Little Dunkirk.”

Sergeant Durr was one of three Marines from D/1/7 to lose his life in the failed attack. His remains were not recovered from the battlefield.